I remember the time I started as a product manager I was overwhelmed. Before that I was an engineering manager and before that a developer. That was simpler, if not easier. Mostly I was told what to do. Usually had a clear definition of what I wanted my team to deliver. I had to figure out how to do it
How do you choose a direction when the ground is shifting? Is it even possible? If you are building products or work as a product manager, owner, leader, founder you likely use a tool called a “product roadmap”. Just like a map tells you how to get where you want, a roadmap should tell the teams internal and external where
No, this is not the beginning of a PJ. It is something you can actually put to use. An elephant has two types of teeth: the external facing tusks and the internal ones. The tusks are often big and add a certain pizazz. The internal ones are functional and do the grind. Literally. 🙂 Startups and product managers can use
Once upon a time in a land far far away. There lived a “weak” product manager. He didn’t really want the job. It came to him as part of a re-org. He was an engineering manager, who had to layoff most of his team. That made him unhappy. 😌 The product he took over was not doing so well. The
This is a trap that too many technical product leaders fall in. Sometimes they overrule marketing. They do so at their own peril. Not long ago I worked with a company that had a successful product. It had evolved over the years and done well. Then some of the people came up with another product. It was for a business
Not too long ago, I was speaking with a founder of a well-funded startup. Solution: innovative. Team: solid. Product: decent for an early version. Customer interest: quite a few POCs. Yet, no conversions. Everybody liked it, but nobody was signing up. This was baffling. Then they started offering it for free/near free. Still nobody wanted to sign up. We started
It is said that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Something similar can be said for “value” when it comes to b2b SaaS. Is it in the eye of the buyer or maybe head? A lot is written about pricing tactics and pricing models: – Create 3 editions – Guide people towards middle – Provide an entry version
Is product management training a waste of time? Ever since being a product manager has become cool? Maybe I am kidding myself but certainly it has become a highly desirable role – some would call it one of the hottest careers. 🙂 The number of training courses and certifications has multiplied. There are even programs dedicated to simply cracking a
Last week I was talking to the #founder of a startup that is growing well. He easily acknowledged what many others fail to see. We were taking about scaling after getting to product market fit. “We have product market fit for the domestic market, but not for the US.” When most startups start seeing a steady growth in revenue without
Are you special? Unique? Better than the others? If I were to ask you this question, you would likely say yes; at least to some of those. That is how we are as human beings. 🙂 However, if you are building a b2b product then it’s not so easy to answer them as “yes”. Most products solve a business problem
Many times when I ask product managers or founders this question they draw a blank. This seems to be true for many startups and sometimes even bigger companies. The question: “What is your product strategy?” Maybe the word strategy gets a bad rap because of management consultants. 🙂 For startups it may seem to indicate something far out when many
When I lived in the US they used to say, “Earning your first $1M is the hardest.” That may be true for individuals. However, it isn’t true for startups and product businesses. Getting to your first million in revenue is easier than going from $1M to $10M if you’re a product startup. The early revenue is all about the hustle.
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